Upset and anger after four Cookstown businesses hit in burglary blitz

Shauna Corr

The self-employed electronic repair man at the centre of a burglary blitz in Cookstown over the weekend has said he is “upset and angry” his small business was targeted.

The Phone Cube was one of four businesses broken into in the town between Saturday evening and Monday morning according to police.

Robbers smashed their way in through CAB's window to reach the Phone Cube

A window was broken in the Citizen’s Advice Bureau to gain access to the Phone Cube, which is in the same building.

But further down the street, the NSL office - home to the town’s traffic wardens - had its door smashed in as thieves thought it was the back door of iCover Cookstown - another electronics shop.

Around the corner, on the Burn Road, Bengal Spice was also hit.

Algirdas Navalinskas, who runs the Phone Cube, told the Mail he has been working six days a week without any holidays to try and build his business, and has been left upset by the attack.

NSL traffic wardens arrived at work on Monday to find their door broken down

After smashing the window and damaging the door in his premises, he said they made off with around 15 phones and some money, but left a number of laptops, tablets and the till untouched.

“I have been here just over a year,” Al explained. “It’s very strange, they left some phones, they didn’t touch tablets. There was still some money in the till and they didn’t take it.

“It takes time to come to terms with it. The more I think about it, the more upset I am,” Al went on.

“It’s a really strange one, they seem to have targeted me because they didn’t take anything from CAB - computers, nothing.

A number of phones were stolen after the Phone Cube was broken into

“I feel that maybe somebody was in the shop, so every time you see somebody, you know...”

As well as thefts from the Phone Cube and damage to Bengal Spice and CAB, NSL also had to pay to have its door replaced. A spokesperson said: “Just the door was damaged and nothing was taken.”

A police spokesperson said: “A number of phones and tablets along with a sum of cash was stolen as a result of the burglaries. “Detectives will investigate all lines of enquiry including examination of any available CCTV and they continue to appeal for anyone with any information to contact them on 101.”